Just Right Books

You may have heard the term "Just Right Books" from your child. A just right book is one that your child enjoys, can read with few errors, and has vocabulary that is understandable. It is expected that these books will look a bit easier to you than ones that your child has read previously.

When choosing a just right book, I've asked the children to follow some steps:
1. "5 Finger Rule": Students should open the book to a page (not the first one) and read it. Each time there is a word that needs to be sounded out, or is hard to read, one finger goes up on your child's hand. If 5 fingers are raised at the end of the page, that book is not "Just Right".
2. "Clunks": Reading the same page, students should keep track of "clunks". A clunk is a word that your child may be able to read, but does not understand. Three clunks on the page is the maximum.
3. Read the back: Students should read the back (or inside jacket) of a book in order to be sure that the book is interesting to them. I'm really stressing that the book must interest your child. Please stress that it needs to interest them, not me, a friend, or family member.

I have really been working to stress for the kids that reading is work, but it should be FUN! If it isn't fun for a student, I am working to help them get there.